Wilton's Olivia Blatchford Clyne goes out in third round of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

Wilton Bulletin

Published
1:00 pm EST, Wednesday, January 23, 2019

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For the second consecutive year, Wilton’s Olivia Blatchford Clyne lost in the third round of the prestigious $360,000 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions squash tournament.

Defending champion and the world No. 2 ranked player Nour El Sherbini, firing on all cylinders rolled to an 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 victory on the glass-enclosed court in Grand Central Terminal on Monday, Jan. 21.

“It was not totally unexpected,” said Clyne, who had never beaten El Sherbini in five previous matches. “She is a fantastic player and on any day she is best in the world. I am still learning to elevate my game to that level.”

The 25-year-old Clyne, ranked No. 19 in the world and the No. 2 USA player, gamely fought to the end of the 24-minute match, but had few answers to the shot-making prowess of the Egyptian.

El Sherbini, also the 2016 ToC champion and semifinalist in 2017, never trailed in the match. She led 4-1 in the first game and 6-1 in the last two games.

“I never felt that I was in control of any of the points, I was just reacting and recovering,” said Clyne, who married Scottish player Alan Clyne last summer.

“I just got to keep learning and growing as it is really hard to penetrate the upper tier,” said Clyne, who will keep up that process with a tournament in Edinburgh later this week and another in Cincinnati early next month.

Clyne

Clyne

Photo: Steve Line/SquashPics.com

Photo: Steve Line/SquashPics.com

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Clyne

Photo: Steve Line/SquashPics.com

Wilton's Olivia Blatchford Clyne goes out in third round of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

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Clyne had won her first match on Sunday with an exciting and tense 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 13-11 win over Nele Gillis of Belgium.